A Special court on Wednesday summoned Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal as an accused in a case of alleged irregularities in recruitments at the commission.
Taking congnisance of the chargesheet in the matter filed by the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) of the Delhi government, Special Judge Hemani Malhotra asked Ms. Maliwal to appear before the court on February 6.
“After examining the FIR, statements of witnesses and documents, there is sufficient evidence to take cognisance of offences under Section 13(1)(d) and 13(2) (criminal misconduct by public servant) of the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act,” the judge said.
‘Probe role of others too’
The ACB had charge-sheeted Ms. Maliwal last month under the PC Act and Sections 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC.
The judge also directed the probe agency to investigate the role of others accused in the case.
“From material placed on record, it appears that the investigation has not identified other associates of Ms. Maliwal in whose connivance the illegal practices were adopted,”the Judge said.
The ACB had initiated a probe into the allegations against Ms. Maliwal on a complaint by former DCW head Barkha Shukla Singh in September last year. Ms. Singh had alleged that there was favouritism, on political lines, in hiring at the DCW as several AAP supporters were given plum posts in the commission.
‘Due process not followed’
The complainant had listed the names of 85 people who allegedly got jobs without requisite credentials.
According to the ACB, due process was not followed in the recruitment. There were no advertisements nor were there any interviews. The salaries and other perks were also fixed arbitrarily, the probe agency has said.
